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28 AUGUST 2015 Inhalation When her kindergarten classmates were learning fundamentals of read- ing and math, five-year old Countess was absent from the classroom half of the time. This bright, energetic, vora- cious reader missed 21 school days of the first two months of the school year. Why? She wasn't in the classroom because she was either in the emergency room or at home recovering from an asthma attack. Her severe asthma was out of control and her family just couldn't cope. The impact on her education and her family was devastating. Forced to con- stantly miss work, Countess' mom eventually lost her job. For a single working mom, caring for her sick child was her priority, even though it created a desperate situation. But this story has a happy ending: this young family found Building Bridges for Asthma Care in the Denver Pub- lic Schools. Or, rather, the program found them. Today everyone is on more stable footing, thanks to the schools and their colleagues at Chil- dren's Hospital Colorado. So how did we get here? Blame the asthma achieve- ment gap and healthcare disparities Stories like Countess' are all too common. Asthma is a leading cause o f a b s e n t e e i s m i n e l e m e n t a r y schools. It's an even bigger problem for low income and minority chil- dren, where access to healthcare can be a challenge, in addition to expo- sure to environmental triggers and some potential genetic risks. Studies show that uncontrolled asthma may contribute significantly to a widening achievement gap between inner-city students and their peers. These children face many obstacles when it comes to education and their well-being; GSK asked what could be done to strike asthma from the list. Bridges for the asthma achievement gap David Stempel, MD, Stanley Szefler, MD and Melanie Gleason, PA-C GSK B a c k P a g e continued on page 27